Gone Too Far
by Dragonmaster Dyne
Summary: Riku tries to help Tidus out of an arranged marriage. While Tidus appreciates the help, he realizes he's starting to appreciate "other" aspects of his silver-haired friend a lot more than he wants to. Shounen Ai - Tidus/Riku
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Well, I do own the game, just not the idea or any of its characters nor did I create it. They belong to Squaresoft and Disney.

Title: Gone Too Far

Beginning Notes: Mostly a Tidus story about him trying to escape an arranged marriage. I don't know where that idea came from, I just thought of it one day and needed to get it out of my head. I know what you're thinking. "If it's about Tidus why not make this a FFX fic rather than a KH fic? Well it started out as a FFX fic, but then I realized this would probably work better in the Kingdom Hearts universe. Besides, Sora and Riku play a major part in this anyway. Not to mention in KH, Tidus is...kinda adorable. ^_^;

I hope I don't make the characters act to OOC. I've been informed I have a problem with that. -_- I'll try my best.

For the most part this story is comical, but might have some angst here and there. Anyway, enough of my rambling. On with the story.

WARNING: I will attempt to write Wakka's accent. ^_~

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"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!!!" Brown hair whipped across Sora's face as he turned around and looked back at his friend. Sora and Riku had engaged in another one of their races and Sora was leaving Riku well behind in the dust. A look of determination spread across Riku's features.

"I'm just going easy on you, Sora. But if you want to make this serious..."

He quickly sped up and was soon close to Sora.

"No you don't!" Sora taunted. Riku used to beat him all the time in these rivalry matches with Sora's victories being few and far in-between. But lately, Sora's strength and endurance had increased exponentially. Riku had increased in strength and endurance, but apparently not to Sora's caliber. He didn't like it. But he had to admit, it was nice having a challenge somewhere in Destiny Islands once again.

"Alright, Riku, prepare to literally eat my dust!" Sora stopped, pivoted, and kicked a wave of sand in Riku's face. Riku stopped and gagged as he spit out the sand from his mouth.

"Now that's just playing dirty." He growled. Sora laughed playfully as he continued running and looked back to see his handywork. Riku smiled, glad that despite all that's happened, nothing had changed between the two.

After looking back at Riku for a while, Sora turned his head forward. Tidus was practicing kendo directly in his path. Uh-oh, Sora thought, at the speed he was going, a collision with Tidus seemed imminent.

"Tidus! Watch out!" he called, flailing his arms.

"Huh?"

Tidus turned around and saw Sora getting closer and closer. Before he could react, Sora crashed into him, toppling them both over and plunging them deep into the sand.

Tidus squirmed under Sora's body. Riku ran up to them and chuckled.

"You guys all right?" he asked after a few bouts of laughter. Sora pouted and looked at him.

"It wasn't funny." he muttered. He got up and dusted himself off. Riku extended his hand and helped Tidus up. Tidus rubbed sand out of eyes, which caused his eyes to water.

"Sorry about that." Sora apologized. "Riku and I were having a race and I..."

Tidus brushed it off. "Don't worry about it. It happens." He assured them by flashing a smile.

"Hey, what's happenin', ya?" said a voice. They all turned around to see their friend Wakka, resident Blitzball player and Tidus' best friend.

"Hi, Wakka!" Tidus greeted cheerfully. "I was gonna look for you. Wanna play Blitzball? You and me against Sora and Riku."

Wakka shook his head. "Sorry, man. I was jus' ova at your house an' your fatha' was there. He asked me to get you immediately. Could be in trouble, ya."

Tidus' cheerful expression devolved into a scowl. Riku and Sora exchanged pitiful glances. Everyone knew the type of relationship Tidus had with his father.

Tidus sighed. "Fine. I'll go see what he wants." He strolled by Wakka, and turned to look at his friends, "I guess I'll see you guys later." Then continued on his way.

Tidus walked into his house and saw his father sitting in the den. Tidus walked up to him, put his hands behind his head and tapped his foot.

"What do you want, old man?" Tidus asked, making it no secret that he could care less.

Tidus' father looked into his eyes.

"You're eyes are red. Have you been cryin' again?" he said in his gruff voice.

"No." Tidus said defensively, "I just got sand in my eyes."

"You always use that excuse." His father laughed and stood up. "I bet that Riku kid beat you in a fight again. Face it, you'll never be as strong as him."

"I will to." Tidus countered.

"You keep saying that, yet you never do anything to prove me wrong. Therefore, I must be right." Tidus' father smirked. Tidus scowled.

"If you only called me to make fun of me, then I'll just go back to my friends, Jecht." He said.

"Oh I have a reason for bringing you here." Jecht walked up to an ancestral painting of a figure from long past. From ancient times.

"You know what's wrong with people today?" he asked rhetorically. Tidus rolled his eyes.

"Nobody's willing to uphold traditions. They're all to busy embracing this 'new millenium.'" He looked at Tidus. "Nobody takes pride in their nationality or culture. They're like, 'yeah, I'm a member of that group. So what?' They don't seem to give a damn about the values and morals upheld by their elders."

"Where are you going with this?" Tidus asked, bored already.

"I'm giving you an opportunity to revitalize an old tradition on Destiny Islands that has long since died out."

"Oh really?" Tidus asked sarcastically. Jecht sneered.

"Yeah. Really." He walked back up to Tidus and put his hand on his shoulders. Tidus looked at it and wondered what he was up to.

"A good buddy of mine...a _rich_ buddy of mine...likes you."

"Um...that's...good?" Tidus raised an eyebrow.

"Yup, told him all about my only son. Says you seem to be a real good guy, even though you cry a lot, act like a kid even though you're *supposed* to be fourteen, and aren't really good at anything."

"Shut up, old man." Tidus clenched his teeth. Jecht always seemed to make sure everyone knew the worst about him.

"Not to mention respect issues with his own father." Jecht gave him a not-so-light shove, sending him into a couch. "But despite all that crap, he still took a likin' to ya. So he made a proposal, no pun intended." A real smile of satisfaction spread across Jecht's features. Tidus wondered what he meant by "proposal" and "no pun intended."

Jecht cleared his throat. "He asked me if he would like have an arranged marriage between you and his daughter. I said yes."

"WHAT?!" Tidus screamed. Jecht laughed.

"Think of all the money we'll get out of this, boy. It's the chance of a lifetime! Besides, he's a real traditionalist. It was bound to come up."

"This is not legal!" Tidus cried.

"It isn't illegal, either." Jecht countered. "I don't see what your screamin' about. She's a real cutie. Saw her picture."

"But aren't these supposed to be decided before birth?" Tidus rationalized.

"Oh it can be done after birth. Provided the person ain't eighteen."

Tidus growled. "But you can't do this without asking me! Didn't you care what'd I think?!"

"Yeah, I thought about that. Then I remembered, I don't give a damn what you think!" Jecht roared into laughter.

"Well I don't want to marry the daughter of one of your drinking buddies." Tidus said defiantly.

"Oh you will. And this friend of mind doesn't drink. Just to let you know. Plus, you're mother and I are counting on it."

"Even Mom is in on this?" Tidus may not of thought much of his dad. But he loved his mom. He thought at least she would stand up for him.

"Well she will be once I tell her." Tidus sighed.

"I'm not doing it." Tidus said.

"Yes you will." Jecht said, just as sternly. "What do you have going for you? A great fighter? That Riku kid will cut you in spades. A great Blitzball player? You'll never reach the caliber of your friend Wakka. You'll never be as smart as those girls Kairi and Selphie. And you'll never be a big hero like Sora. So what do you have going for you, huh?"

Tidus kept quiet. Jecht's words were like daggers piercing his skin. Jecht shook his head.

"Thought so. So you will make your daddy proud at least once in his life. Take this marriage and make your family happy. Now go back outside. I've seen enough of your face for one day." Jecht turned around and walked out of the room. Tears were slowly making their way to Tidus's eyes as pure anger spread across his features.

"Damn you, Jecht." He cursed under his breath and ran out of the house.

"And don't you dare cry. Try and be a man for once!"

Tidus sat by the small waterfall next to the Secret Cave, kicking water lightly with his feet. Tears slid down Tidus' face. He hated that. He hated being known as a crybaby, but it was pretty much all he could do at this point.

"Why does Jecht always do this too me? Why?" he asked himself. "What did I do to ever deserve him as a father? Damn him. He just...goes too far." He watched as his tears fell into the water. He heard someone cough. His head snapped back to find Riku standing behind him. Riku smiled uneasily and raised his hand.

"Uh, hey there, um, Tidus." He greeted.

Tidus sniffed and looked away, narrowing his brows. "How long have you been standing there?" He demanded.

Riku sat down next to him. "Long enough." The next few moments were filled with silence with Tidus not looking at Riku. He didn't want him seeing him like this. Riku finally decided to break the ice.

"If you're wondering why I'm here, it's because I'm supposed to meet Sora here. So if there's anything you want to talk about, you might want to say it now before he shows up. Lord knows what a big mouth he has." Riku chuckled. Unfortunately, Tidus wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"Or maybe I could just not talk at all."

"Tidus." Riku said softly, "I heard you talking about your dad. Tell me, what's wrong?"

"He's wrong. Everything about him is wrong. I hate him." Tidus said icily.

"Yeah, we've been down that path before. But what's he done this time?" Riku asked thoughtfully.

"You'll never believe this, but here goes..."

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I shall end it here! Anyway, I'm sorry this fic turned out more angsty that humourous, like I intended. So I guess I'll try that for chapter 2. For those who have played Final Fantasy X, you will notice I am keeping the relationship between Tidus and Jecht (though I may have exaggerated Jecht a bit). For those who haven't played, I suggest you search FFX websites to find a picture of him if you desperately need a mental picture. No description of mine can do him justice. And it's time I admit, that I really have no idea how arranged marriages work. So I just went with what (little) I knew and rolled with it. Hope no one minds, especially peoples who have arranged marriages as part of their culture. Anyway, review, flame, or whatever. I don't really don't mind. Later.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow! I actually got reviews! :P But seriously, I'm glad people are taking an interest in this story. Especially since it seems so different from the rest of KH fanfiction. Sankyuu! Now without further ado, Chapter 2 (hey that rhymed!)

No wait. There's still an ado. The Disclaimer

Disclaimer: Wait, is it even necessary to put a disclaimer in more than one chapter???

_Now_ without further ado, here is Chapter 2....

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Tidus told everything, everything about the newest low Jecht had sunk to. Worse than anything he could've ever done. His feelings, complete dashed, like he wasn't worthy enough to own them. To say Riku was shocked would be an understatement. Jecht had really overstepped the boundries of a father this time.

If this were Sora, Riku would've teased him about whining like a little girl. But Riku and Tidus weren't as close as that, plus Tidus was a lot more sensitive. Now wasn't a good time for joking around. Not to mention Sora's dad wouldn't have done this in the first place.

Riku didn't know what to do. Tidus' life was pretty much ruined, from his point of view. It was all decided for him. He couldn't choose his own future. Jecht laid down everything. He would do this, he would marry this girl, and he would probably decide how much children they would have.

Whatever Tidus planned was gone. And Riku didn't like it. He knew the feeling of being confined to walk one single path, a path you didn't agree to walk. Not seeing what else could be out there. Feeling trapped.

As of this moment, Riku sympathized with Tidus more than anyone on the planet.

He placed his hand on Tidus' shoulder.

"Tidus-kun." Riku said, addressing him by his childhood name, "I promise you, I'll get you out of this."

"You would? What could you do?" Tidus asked. Riku shrugged, but the look on his face was of determination.

"I may not know now, but I'll think of something. You can bet on it."

Riku stood up and extended his hand to Tidus.

"Come on. We've got work to do."

Tidus took his hand and was helped up. "But what about Sora? Weren't you suppose to meet him here?"

Riku grinned. "Don't worry about it. Sora won't mind."

**********

Ten minutes later....

Sora stood by the waterfalls next to the Secret Place, looking around.

"Where's Riku? He should've been here by now." He wondered aloud. "I hope he didn't just up and leave. I sure would mind that."

**********

Riku and Tidus walked along the beachside.

"Now, normally, I'd just tell you to explain how you feel to your father, but past experiences have proven that's ineffective." Riku said. "So we'll have to try something else."

"But what?" Tidus asked. Riku tapped his finger on his chin, racking his brain for ideas.

"Well," he said, "Jecht may not want to call it off, but his friend still can. I say, call him up and act like the biggest jerk in the world. Act so bad that he'd see you as unfit for your daughter."

Tidus blushed. "I don't think I can do that."

"Sure you can. You're rude and nasty to your dad all the time. Just pretend he's your dad." Riku assured.

Tidus thought for a minute. That could work. After all, arranged marriages only work if the parents of each child agree to it. If one set of parents disapproves then it falls flat.

"Okay," Tidus confirmed, a grin spreading across his features. "I'll try it."

"Good boy." Riku said, ruffling the younger boy's hair. "Let me know how it goes!"

Tidus brushed Riku's hand out of his hair and laughed. "Sure thing."

Tidus ran off and Riku gave a satisfying sigh.

"Now," he said to himself, "I better get back to Sora. Hope he isn't too mad..."

**********

"Man, I'm mad!" Sora said, pouting, arms crossed, and tapping his foot impatiently. "Riku was supposed to be here by now."

Sora waited longer, until finally Riku showed up. He was breathing heavily as if he had been running.

"Sorry, I'm late, Sora." Riku apologized.

"What were you doing? You knew we had plans. You said you'd be here early. Half the day had gone by!"

"Fifteen minutes." Riku corrected.

"Fifteen, twenty, whatever!" Sora scolded. "The point is I was beginning to think you stood me up!"

"Stood you up?" Riku repeated raising an eyebrow, "Sorry, didn't mean to piss off my 'girlfriend'."

Sora pouted. "Not funny. I don't know why I should continue speaking to you." He turned his back to him, arms still crossed, eyes closed and stuck his nose in the air.

Riku poked him in the back. "Sorry, 'honey'. I was just helping out a friend, that's all. I didn't forget about you."

Sora let out a "Hmph."

Riku sighed and rolled his eyes. "Could you cut it out now? You're starting to act like Kairi."

Sora opened his eyes. "What did you say?"

"I said you're starting to act like Kairi."

Sora turned around, put his hands on Riku's shoulders and shot him the most apologetic look he could muster.

"Oh my gosh, Riku, I'm so sorry! Pleaseforgivemepleaseforgivemepleaseforgiveme???"

"Forgiven and forgotten." Riku laughed. "Now let's go head to the Mayor's Island."

***************

Tidus walked up to Jecht who was reading the newspaper.

"Alright, old man. If I'm trapped in this hellish nightmare, I might as well make the best of it. Can I have your friend's phone number? Maybe I can get to know my 'wife'?"

Jecht smirked. "Thought it over and realized I know what's best for ya, eh? It's about time you displayed some intelligence." Tidus rolled his eyes. His teeth clenched all ready. Jecht gave him the number and Tidus reluctantly thanked him. Since Jecht was in the kitchen, he decided to use the phone in the den. He didn't want Jecht to hear what his true intentions were.

He dialed the phone number and waited. It rang three times before a young female voice answered it.

"Hello?" it answered. Tidus actually debated whether he should try and get to know this young woman. The sound of her voice was very soothing and momentarily quelled his anger. But he decided to go with the original plan.

"Can I speak to your father?" he asked.

"Okay." she said. After a few pauses, a man's voice came on the phone.

"Who, may I ask, is speaking?" he inquired politely.

"It's me, Tidus. Jecht's son."

"Ah, the son of Jecht. A pleasure to be speaking with you."

"Wish I could say the same to you."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me, you pig-screwing bastard. What the hell makes you think I'd like to marry your whore of a daughter." Tidus grimaced. He didn't like talking like that. Especially when this man was technically innocent. But he had to get this done. To regain his free will.

"You've got some nerve! My dad's told me all about the little skank!"

"Excuse me, but--"

"Shut up! I'm talking!" Tidus yelled at him. He continued unleashing strings of insults, curse words, and any other vulgar thing he could think of. He had to make sure he sounded like the biggest asshole in the world. Anything to destroy this arranged marriage.

"I'm not gonna tolerate this...!" the phone was yanked from his hands. Tidus looked up, shocked to find Jecht. Jecht glared at him and spoke into the phone. Tidus quietly slunk away, but another glare from Jecht froze him in place. After Jecht was done, he hung up, turned to Tidus and smirked.

"Almost thought you ruined it for me there." He said. Tidus scowled.

"Only thing I'm sorry about is not having a phone in my room." He shot back.

"Boy, it's time I teach you about a little something called 'irony'."

Tidus scowl dissipated. Now he was curious.

"What are you talking about?" the blonde boy demanded. Jecht laughed.

"When you mouthed off at him, it actually impressed him. Showed you were a no-nonsense kinda guy. The type of guy he wanted to marry his daughter."

"WHAT?!"

"He's sure you'll get rid of that 'tude of yours when you're older. And that you'll understand why this is important. 'Yeah right" I told him. 'The kid ain't that smart. I'll whip in to line'. And that's what I plan to do."

"W-wh-what do you mean?" Tidus said, baffled that his plan backfired.

"Oh nothing. I'm sure you'll keep out of trouble." Jecht said walking up to him. Then he knelt down and looked Tidus in the eyes, their noses nearly touching.

"After all, I doubt you'd want me to wring your neck so hard your head would pop off like the cork on a champagne bottle." 

It took all of Tidus' strength to _not_ spit in his face.

Jecht got up and went about his way. Tidus wanted to hit something. Hard. His tears wanted to bust out of his eyes, but he wouldn't let them.

He stormed out of the house, wondering if he should ever bother coming back.

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I hope everyone appreciates their father very much. Anyway, sorry it was a little short. I promise to make the next one longer. Please review. I'd like to see what people thought so far. But even if the reviews stop, this story will get finished 'cause I have to get it out of my head. Until Chapter 3...


	3. Chapter 3

Here is Chapter 3. So, uh….enjoy! ^_^

Disclaimer: Wakka's voice in Kingdom Hearts sucks. Oh yeah, and I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They belong to Disney and Squaresoft. But you already knew that.

Once again, I apologize for any OOC-ness that might occur.

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A small boulder, covered in foliage, blocked an entrance to a secret cave Sora had found the other day on the Mayor's Island.

"Wow," said Riku, "I can't believe that there was a cave we hadn't discovered yet on Destiny Islands. And I thought there wasn't a single place left here we haven't touched."

Sora cleared the foliage off the boulder.

"This huge rock is blocking the entrance. Help me give it a push."

Sora and Riku put their hands on the rock and leaned their weight into it. They're combined efforts proved successful. The boulder wasn't as heavy as it looked.

"All right!" Sora exclaimed. The duo proceeded to enter the cave. They had to watch their heads for the first few steps, but the ceiling began to rise until they were able to stand upright again. The duo looked around and saw...nothing. The cave really wasn't much. It actually had patches of grass growing sparsely throughout. A ray of sunlight shone through a large crack in the ceiling, allowing a patch of flowers to grow in a corner. A bunch of leaves were stashed in another corner as if it were a makeshift bed. But that was it. Not much else. The Secret Place was much more interesting.

"Wow, a cave that looks just like all the others. How awesome." Riku said sarcastically. Sora pouted.

"Darn. I was hoping there was a surprise left on this island. Guess not." He was severely disappointed. Anything that could be done in this cave could very easily be done in the Secret Place.

"Face it, Sora. We've seen everything on this island. I'm getting quickly reminded of why I wanted to leave in the first place." Riku said. He knelt down by the stack of leaves and rummaged through them, hoping to find something, anything of interest.

He found something.

He picked up a long, elastic tube-like thing and grimaced. He saw one of these things before.

"Sora, I don't think we're the first people to discover this cave."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, walking up to his silver-haired friend. "What is that?" Riku looked at him.

"I think it's a condom." He answered.

"A CONDOM?" Sora gasped, then covered his mouth. "Ew, I can't believe you touched it!"

"I'm wearing gloves." The silver-haired boy said, dropping it. He looked around the leaf patch. "And there's more. There's four here. Whoever comes here must come here a lot."

Sora giggled. "Interesting use of the word 'come'."

Riku shot him a look. "Don't be so immature." Sora smirked.

"Aww, then I can't tell you about my idea." Riku looked at him, curiously.

"What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously. Sora had a mischievous grin on his face.

"This cave is in an isolated location. Whoever comes here, obviously comes here with someone. They probably think nobody knows about here, but themselves. Sooo..."

Riku knew where this was heading. "You wanna spy on them and see them..."

Sora nodded mischievously. "What do you say, Riku-kun?" Riku scratched his head.

"I dunno." he answered.

"Come on! Haven't you ever wondered what it looked like? We could actually see it!"

"Yeah, but then again, there is this thing called the Inter-"

"Great! I knew you'd agree!" Sora exclaimed. Riku sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"Okay, then. You wanna meet back here around eight o'clock? I'd bet that would be the time they would come around. I don't think they'd visit here during the day or they'd already be here."

Sora giggled and nodded. "C'mon, let's head back home." He ran out the cave, the mischievous grin still plastered on his face. Riku scratched his head. Sora sure was weird sometimes.

-----------------

Tidus and Wakka were sparring, near the paopu tree. Wakka thought his best friend wanted to hang out with him, but Tidus just wanted to get his mind off his predicament and Wakka was merely the first person he came across. Truthfully, he wanted to see Riku.

Wakka jumped in the air and beamed his Blitzball at Tidus. The blonde boy held his kendo stick and smacked at the blitzball with hard force. The blitzball beamed back at Wakka, aiming squarely at the blitzball player's head. Wakka dodged the ball, but barely. A loud smack was heard as it hit a nearby rock wall. Wakka was surprised it didn't make a dent.

"Watch it, will ya?" Wakka said, angrily. "You could've killed me with that!"

Tidus calmed down. "Sorry, Wakka." He put his hand behind his head and laughed a little. "Maybe I'm just getting too good."

But Wakka could see right through him. He knew his best friend better than anyone else on the island.

"Something's troubling you, ya?" he said seriously. Tidus put down his hand, frowned and looked down.

"Yeah, something's wrong." he said icily.

"Jecht."

"Huh?"

"It's about your dad, Jecht. Isn't it?" Wakka concluded.

"How'd you know?" Tidus asked, a little annoyed by Wakka's knowing already.

"You always use that tone of voice when your dad ticks you off." Wakka said as he walked up to his friend. "What'd he do this time?"

"I don't really feel like talking about it." Tidus admitted. "I...actually kind of want to be alone right now."

Wakka understood.

"As you wish. But remember, you can always come to me, ya?"

Tidus nodded and forced a smile. "I know I can always count on you Wakka. Thanks."

Wakka walked up to the paopu tree and patted it's trunk.

"You can sit on this branch. Riku comes here to think all the time, so it must be a good thinking spot, ya?" Wakka turned around and patted Tidus' back. "And whatever that monster did to you. He's gonna regret it." He jumped off the small mini-island and swam to the piers. Now Tidus regretted not telling Wakka. He was a true friend.

Tidus sat on the paopu tree, staring into the water, thoughts racing through his head. He had no idea what to do next. The plan backfired. How could it have backfired? He surely wouldn't like someone who called him up just to insult him. Shouldn't the same go for everyone?

He laid down on the branch and put his hands over his face. The man must've been weird, he thought.

He wondered if he should go home. He didn't want to. He didn't want to show up at that place again for a long time. Would Wakka let him stay over? Maybe for a night, but not forever.

What about Riku?

Riku...

Tidus' thoughts drifted towards Riku. He always looked up to Riku. He was kind of like a big brother to him, even more so than Wakka. The redheaded blitzball player was his best friend, but Riku had more of a mentor status. Whenever Jecht did something to make him cry and his mother or Wakka weren't available, he would run to Riku. Riku would actually drop whatever he was doing with Sora and Kairi to try and cheer him up. He didn't know why. They were close, but not "best friend" close. Riku was closer with Sora and Kairi and Tidus was closer with Wakka so what was the special connection he had with Riku? The silver-haired boy was the strongest fighter on Destiny Islands, so he definitely admired his strength. Riku almost never got sick so he admired his health. He was always thinking and philosophizing so he admired his intelligence. He was always popular with the girls so he admired his good looks.

He admired him. He envied him. At times, he even wanted to _be_ him. But Riku told him that Tidus was special in his own right and should be glad to be who he is. Tidus blushed at the memory of Riku calling him "special." Riku, the closest person Destiny Islands had to a "man-god." His flowing, silver hair, his muscular arms, his turquoise eyes that was hard NOT to get entranced in...

Tidus shot up from the paopu tree branch.

"What am I thinking?!" he cried.

"That's what I'd like to know." said a voice from behind.

Tidus' head whipped around so fast, it could of snapped off.

"RIKU!"

The silver-haired boy was standing right beside him, looking at him innocently.

"I'm sorry. You looked so deep in thought, I thought I shouldn't disturb you."

Tidus blushed. He _hoped_ it was out of embarrassment.

He looked away and stared out into the ocean.

"What are you doing here?" asked the blonde.

"I'm supposed to meet Sora here. We've got plans." Riku explained.

"Oh." said Tidus softly. Riku took a seat next to him.

"Sooooo," he said, "How did it go? Are you out of it?"

Tidus shook his head.

"If anything, I'm deeper in it than I was before."

Riku was puzzled. How did it not work? So Tidus gave him the details and how things turned in Jecht's favor. As always.

"What am I going to do?" asked Tidus, his voice nearly breaking.

"Buck up, Tidus. You are NOT going through with this! We'll think of something, something guaranteed to work!" Riku said, angry now. He brushed his hands through his silver hair, thinking hard. His turquoise eyes, burning with determination. Tidus liked the way Riku looked when he thought like that. It was kind of…

Tidus immediately took his eyes off Riku and looked back into the water. Once again, Riku was taking time out of his day to help him. Tidus made sure to take note of that.

"Got it!" yelled Riku. Tidus looked at him, hopeful.

"What?"

"Okay, so the guy has a high tolerance for attitude, but if there's one characteristic fathers want in their daughter's husband, it's responsibility. You need to do something irresponsible, then there will be no way he'll have you marry his daughter." Riku smiled proudly.

"Like what?" asked Tidus. Riku's smile disappeared as he shrugged. But his eyes narrowed, looking serious.

"Whatever it is, it has to be very stupid and disgraceful. Something that would definitely keep you from marrying the girl ever. Something that would repulse even Jecht." Riku put a hand on Tidus' shoulder. "I don't think you have to worry about lowering Jecht's opinion of you. It probably couldn't get any lower." Tidus nodded. That much was true. "But you probably want to keep from doing something too outrageous. Don't do anything that would get you in trouble with all of Destiny Islands. I could give you something specific to do like--"

"Hey, Riku!" Sora called from the bridge to the paopu tree mini-island. 

He walked over to the pair sitting on the tree.

"Hi Tidus. I haven't seen you since your dad called you earlier today. What was that about?"

"Oh, uh, um..." Tidus began, but Riku put a hand to his mouth.

"Jecht just wanted him to do a bunch of chores for him without an allowance again." Riku lied. Sora looked sympathetic and sighed.

Tidus gave Riku a look of confusion.

Riku whispered into his ear, "I don't want him burdening you with questions right now." A small blush appeared across Tidus' cheeks. Riku was looking out for him. Sora took notice.

"Hey, is he coming along?" he asked. Riku shook his head.

"Nah, he's got work to do. Right, Tidus?" Riku gave the blonde boy an assuring wink.

"Um, right." Tidus said, receiving the message. Riku leaned into him again and whispered in his ear, "Remember, the path you choose to walk is your own choice. Nobody has the right to force you to choose an unwanted path." Riku pat his friend on the back and jumped down the tree.

"Shall we get going?" he asked his best friend. Sora nodded. Tidus jumped down from the tree and made his way across the bridge. He silently wished Riku could've come with him.

"Take care and good luck." Riku said looking at the blonde boy, but unsure if he had heard him.

-----------------

"Well here we are!" Sora said excitedly. He and Riku had finally entered their little secret cave. "I sure hope we didn't miss anything."

"You're an animal, Sora." Riku laughed. "But have you figured out what we'll do if we get caught?"

"I'll take care of it when the time comes." Sora said, reassuringly. "We'll just hide behind that big rock for now. We'll be able to see them, but they won't be able to see us."

"If you say so."

The duo sat behind the big rock and waited patiently. They didn't know how long it would take, but Sora convinced Riku that they would wait all night if they had to. Riku wasn't as into this as the horny brunette, but he had to admit he was curious.

They probably waited a good half-hour before they finally heard the rock blocking the cave entrance being moved. Sora and Riku braced themselves.

"This is it!" Sora said excitedly. "I've been waiting forever for this. I could pee in my pants!"

"You'll be doing something in your pants all right." Riku chuckled. Sora blinked.

"Huh? What?"

"Nevermind." Riku said, rolling his eyes.

"I don't get it."

They heard footsteps coming into the room. In walked a familiar, brown-haired girl. Sora and Riku gasped.

"Selphie?!" Sora exclaimed in a soft voice, so as not to be heard.

"I wouldn't have expected it to be her." Riku said scratching his head. "I always thought she would wait for marriage."

"Shh!" Sora put a finger to his mouth. "Better keep quiet."

Selphie looked around the cavern as if she was making sure nobody was there. She went over to the small patch of floors and sat beside them. The moonlight from the crack in the ceiling reflected off her face.

Another set of footsteps followed into the cave room.

"Time to see who Selphie's lover is." snickered Sora. Riku tapped a finger on his chin. He was _definitely_ curious now.

The person finally made it into the room. Selphie looked up at the person and smiled. However, Sora and Riku shared a disappointing glance.

"Hi Kairi!" she greeted.

"It's Kairi." Sora grumbled. Riku chuckled.

"So much for it being any of them." he said jovially. But they still had to keep quiet. They didn't want to scare the pants off the two girls.

"I was looking all over for you," said Kairi, sitting down beside her friend. "When did you discover this place?"

"Just found it. It's pretty cool, huh?" answered Selphie.

Selphie and Kairi were officially ruled out, much to Sora's dismay and Riku's amusement.

"Check out these flowers," Selphie said picking up one, "They're so beautiful."

"Yeah," Kairi agreed, picking one and sniffing it. Selphie turned to Kairi and affectionately placed a flower in her auburn hair. Kairi blushed.

"You look so pretty with it." she said softly.

Riku noticed Sora had crossed his arms and drew his brows together. His  "thinking face" was up.

"Um, thanks." The auburn-haired girl said. Then she added, "You look pretty with the moonlight bouncing off your face like that."

Now Selphie blushed.

"Gee, um, thanks."

Sora's eyes widened.

"Hey, Riku," whispered Sora. "You don't think Kairi and Selphie have a th..."

"No." Riku said, knowing what Sora was about to say. "Just....no."

Sora pouted. Then a mischievous smile crept across his face.

"I've got an idea. Let's have some fun with them."

"What are you suggesting?" Riku asked, eyeing Sora suspiciously. Sora snickered.

"Well it probably won't be as much fun with you as it will be for me!" Riku looked perplexed. Sora cupped both hands over the sides of his mouth and whispered loudly, "Riku!"

"What are you doing?!" demanded Riku.

"Gonna find out what they truly think of you!" Sora giggled. Riku was starting to get mad. Sora called out to the girls again in his whisper voice. "Riku!"

Kairi looked up and tried to find the source.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Selphie asked in confusion.

"I thought I heard something about Riku."

Selphie shook her head. "I didn't hear anything. But while we're on the subject, what do you think about Riku?"

Riku glared at Sora while the brunette just smiled at him.

Kairi thought for a moment. "Well what about him? He's one of my best friends."

Selphie lowered her eyelids halfway and giggled. "Do you _like_ him?"

Kairi thought again. Riku's glare intensified while Sora merely chuckled.

Finally, Kairi shook her head. "Nope. He's just a friend, just like Sora."

"Riku and Sora," Selphie said thoughtfully. "Who do you think is better?"

Sora blinked several times. No, the conversation wasn't supposed to go there!

"Well Riku has the better hair, silver and shoulder-length, how could you not go wild over it?" Kairi said.

"Yeah," Selphie agreed. "Sora's hair defies the laws of physics. How does he use a comb?" The two girls giggled while Riku flashed a smirk at his friend. Sora pouted.

"But what's up with Riku's pants, though?" wondered Kairi. "He could fit a thousand cats in that thing!"

"Hey Riku! The circus called; the clowns want their pants back!" Selphie joked. The girls laughed so hard, they had to clutch their stomach. They ended up falling back from their giggling fits. Both boys were pouting now, arms crossed.

"My hair doesn't defy any laws. It's not a criminal." Sora muttered.

"My pants aren't clown pants." Riku grumbled

-----------------

Tidus sauntered into his house, gloomy as ever. Riku had given him an idea, but he didn't know how to carry it out. The most irresponsible thing he had ever done was forgetting to feed his cat. But aside from disrespecting his father, he was a good person.

So what could he do? He looked around his living room. His parents loved collecting vases and artwork. He also saw his father's Blitzball trophy case from his championship games. Tidus thought for a moment. He could throw a temper tantrum. Break stuff. Destroy valuable things. Jecht's friend wouldn't want his daughter to marry an aggressive person who could snap at any moment so it'd be perfect.

But he shook his head. Way too over-the-top. He didn't want to cause a huge mess he knew he'd end up having to clean up. It had to be something that wouldn't cause harm, but still be frowned upon.

He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to get a drink. This would be tough.

He looked at the choices. Soda. Water. Milk. Orange juice. Jecht's beer.

It clicked. Tidus smirked a naughty smirk. He took out a bottle of Jecht's beer and snickered. This was it. This could possibly be the stupidest and most irresponsible thing he could ever do.

Perfect. Nobody wanted a drunkard for a husband. 

-----------------

The girls had long since left, but the two boys were still pouting and huffing.

"My eyes aren't as big as saucers." Riku grumbled.

"You don't think my big shoes are compensating for something, do you?" Sora asked him. Then he looked upwards. "And what does that even mean?"

Riku huffed. "All I know is that when I see those girls again, man will I…"

Sora covered Riku's mouth.

"Shh! I think I hear someone coming. This could be the person we've been waiting for!"

The two boys quieted down while someone entered the cave. This time, it was a familiar redheaded Blitzball player.

"Wakka!" Sora whispered, "Maybe it's him."

Wakka looked around as if making sure no one was there, then motioned someone to come along. In came a raven-haired girl dressed in black. She looked kind of scary, but also very pretty. She wore purple lipstick, and hair hung over her face, covering one eye.

"Who is she?" asked Riku.

"I don't know. Maybe she's with that new family I heard moved to Destiny Islands recently." Sora suggested. Riku shrugged.

"Probably."

"Well here we are, Lulu." Wakka said. Lulu whispered something to him and Wakka whispered back. Sora and Riku couldn't hear, but soon Wakka and Lulu started making out. Sora and Riku looked surprised. But Sora's mischievous grin returned and he started rubbing his hands together.

"I think we found what we have been waiting for." he said devilishly. 

"Is it just me or do her boobs look like they're made of Jell-O?" Riku wondered.

Wakka's hands rubbed all over Lulu's back as their tongues explored each other's mouths. Wakka's hands soon stopped and began to remove Lulu's clothes.

Lulu broke the kiss and smacked Wakka's face hard. Riku and Sora winced.

"Ow," Wakka groaned, touching the red mark.

"Is that why you brought me here?" Lulu demanded. "If I had known, I would've sent Thundara right up your-"

"Whoa, Lu, take it easy, ya!" Wakka said, holding his hands up in the air. He could see the fire in his girlfriend's red eyes. "I'm sorry. I just got caught up in the moment. When I found this cave yesterday, I wanted it to be our secret place where we can make out, talk, or just be together with no one else to bother us. Not for us to…you know."

Lulu ran her fingertips down Wakka's face affectionately.

"Well, I suppose I could forgive you." She teased. Wakka blushed crimson red. Sora and Riku looked at each other.

"So it's not them." Sora said, dejected.

"We've been sitting here for, like, two hours. Maybe we should go home." Riku reasoned.

"No! This is usually a late night encounter so maybe we have to wait a while longer before they come." Sora explained. Riku sighed.

"Whatever. I don't know how much longer I'm willing to wait, though."

-----------------

Tidus finished a second bottle of beer. He was getting very tipsy, so he decided one more bottle should do. He didn't want to get too drunk. He had to stay aware of his surroundings so he can pull the next step in his plan, which was to call Jecht's friend again, and ask to speak to his daughter. Then proceed  to talk to her in a drunken stupor. She'll get wigged out, tell her dad, her dad would probably yell at Jecht, call the marriage off, and he was free again. Jecht would seriously get on his case, but he was numb to that so that didn't matter.

He was halfway through the third bottle when he started to feel sick. Things were looking dizzy, he had to hold his head. He couldn't keep his thoughts straight. What was he doing again?

Footsteps pounded into the room. Great. Jecht was home.

Jecht stepped inside the kitchen and saw his son downing a bottle of beer. Anger swelled up inside him, veins popping out of his head. Tidus looked at him.

"Heeeyyyy, Daddy!" he said in a slur. "How'ssss it going?"

"Tidus," Jecht growled, "What have I told you about going through my beer?"

"Uhhh," Tidus looked at the bottle, than glared at Jecht. "What's it to ya anyway? You weren't s'pose to be home by now. You should've been here at." He looked at the clock on the wall that read 10:15. "Laterrrr o'clock." He took another swig. Jecht got furious and grabbed the bottle away from him. He threw it to the ground, causing it to break into a million pieces with a loud crash. He was furious.

He grabbed Tidus and dragged him into the den.

"That wasn't a very smart thing to do, son. I ain't raising a drunkard." Jecht grumbled.

"But I just wanna be like you, daddy." Tidus said sarcastically and chuckled. Jecht had had it. He dragged Tidus to the house entrance and opened the door.

"Stealing my beer and pissing me off. Not a good combination!" He threw his son outside. Tidus landed face first into the sand. He struggled to get up, but the world still looked a bit weird and dizzy to him. He spit dirt out of his mouth and glared at Jecht.

"I wouldn't have done this if you didn't force me into this stupid marriage!" he yelled. Jecht stared at him dumbfounded.

"You're an idiot! You'd actually go through all that just to get out of something I know is good for you?! What a…what a…. Ugh! God! You wanna be a drunk? Wander the streets like one!" He slammed the door, leaving Tidus to wonder if he was allowed back inside. Tidus didn't care. He staggered away, confused about what to do next. He had to admit; this was pretty dumb. He didn't even get to complete his plan. Riku gave good advice, but he went and screwed it up.

"I'm sorry, Riku." Tidus said aloud. Now he had nowhere to go.

Well, he did have one place to go…

------------------------------

Wakka and Lulu had left and the two boys were waiting again for their "free show." But it was getting late and it wasn't happening.

"I'm ready to go." said Riku getting up.

"No!" Sora pleaded, pulling him back down. "They could be coming soon."

"No they're not Sora," said Riku, getting annoyed. "It feels like it's eleven o'clock. We've been sitting for hours and what have we learned?"

"Um, Wakka has a girlfriend, Kairi and Selphie have the hots for each other and I think they hate us." Sora guessed. Riku looked at him, bemused. He shook his head and held up a finger.

"That might be what you've learned, but I learned not to follow your hair-brained ideas ever again." The frustrated teen got up and started to walk away, but his brunette friend clung to his leg.

"No, don't leave Riku, please don't leave!" he whimpered. Riku started to get irritated.

"Sora--!"

The duo stopped their bickering to hear the sound of footsteps yet again.

"This could be it!" Sora said. The two boys dived back behind the rock and watched as the figure came closer and closer. It was walking very strangely. Like it was staggering, instead of walking.

The figure came into the main room and sat down with his back to the wall, opposite of where Sora and Riku were staying. The two boys recognized him.

"It's Tidus!" Sora exclaimed. Riku shushed him. What was Tidus doing here? Surely he wasn't the one?

Tidus reached into his pocket a pulled out a small, square packet. He opened it and pulled out a long, elastic tube like thing. He blew into it, until it was huge. Then he started fiddling around with it, having it make funny noises by barely letting any air out.

"WHAT?!" screamed a voice. Tidus lazily looked up and saw an angry Sora and a chuckling Riku coming towards him. Sora shot a look full of daggers at the young blond.

"You mean to tell me that _you_ were the one with the condoms?" Sora demanded. Tidus looked at his "toy."

"Condoms?" Tidus questioned, "This isn't a condom. It's a balloon."

_Balloon?_ Sora thought. He ran over to the pile of leaves and searched through them. He picked up the "condom" and stretched it around. Yup, they were balloons.

"AAAAARRRGGGHHH!" he moaned. "I can't believe I wasted the entire night just to watch someone play with balloons!!!!"

Tidus looked at Riku and raised an eyebrow. Riku laughed nervously and shrugged.

"That Sora. Weird guy, huh?" He said faking a laugh.

"He's funny. I like him." Tidus said. Riku noticed the slur in his voice and drunken look on his face.

"Um, Tidus, are you, um, okay?" he asked. Tidus pinched Riku's cheek and smiled.

"I just did what you told me too, Riku! I done gone do something urresponsible!"

Riku took Tidus' hand, but instead of removing it from his face, he held on to it.

"What did you do?" he asked softly.

"He looks smashed." Sora observed as he walked back to the other two boys.

"Bingo!" Tidus said happily. Riku and Sora exchanged worrying glances.

"You got drunk?!" Riku exclaimed. "Um…did it work?"

Tidus shook his head and pouted. "Mean old Jecht stopped me before I could go any further! He kicked me out and told me to wander the streets like a drunk." Tidus' eyes started to water. "So I came here. I always come here…when he kicks me out."

"He…does this often?" Riku asked. He had never known this and neither had Sora. 

Sora didn't even know what was going on. Riku and Tidus were talking about something, but he didn't know. It was like they were sharing a secret. It actually made him feel a little jealous. He and Riku shared secrets, not Riku and Tidus.

Tidus shrugged. "He doesn't do it often, but when he does…" The young blond didn't want to finish. Riku gritted his teeth. He knew Tidus' dad was a jerk, but now it was starting to bother him _very_ much. In a way he never felt anger before. He stood up, finally taking Tidus' hand off his cheek. He lifted Tidus up and supported him, by putting one of Tidus' arms over his shoulder.

"Come on, Tidus. You're coming home with me. There's no way you're spending the night alone in this cave, especially when you're drunk like this."

"No, Riku, it's okay. I can handle myself." Tidus reassured. Riku shook his head.

"Come on, Sora. You can walk us home." Riku said. Tidus didn't object the second time. Sora nodded and the trio exited the cave.

-------------------------

The boys had made their way to Riku's house with Riku supporting Tidus all the way.

"Thanks Sora, I could take it from here." said Riku. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait!" cried Sora. His silver-haired friend turned his head and looked at him. "How about if I stay over with you? I could help you watch over Tidus."

Riku shook his head. "No thanks. Trust me, I can take it from here."

"Are you sure? I mean, he'll probably…"

"It's okay. I can take care of him."

"But--" Sora persisted. For some reason he didn't want to leave Riku alone with Tidus.

"Sora!" Riku cried, then added gently. "Sorry, but I…just want to be alone with Tidus for tonight. So please…thanks for your offer. But I can handle it."

Sora wanted to protest, but decided to keep his mouth shut. "Okay. I guess I'll…see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya."  Riku opened the door to his house and went inside.

Sora stared at Riku's door for a while, the moonlight shining down from the night sky, allowing its beam to shine upon him. Sora wasn't dumb. He knew something was going on, but he couldn't figure it out. But Riku wanted privacy and he respected that. He'd have to find out in the morning.

----------------------------

Riku led Tidus to his room. Once inside he sat him upon his bed and heaved a sigh. Tidus felt like Riku was disappointed in him. He obviously made too extreme of a choice and now he was screwed for a good long time.

"Riku…" the young blond asked softly, "Are you mad at me?"

Riku raised an eyebrow and knelt beside him.

"I'm not mad at you. Just worried about you. I should've made my idea more clear. I didn't mean for you to endanger your health. I was thinking you could throw a temper tantrum or something. Not get in your dad's beer."

Temper tantrum? Great. Now he tells him.

"But this severity of the situation just proves how far you'll go to get out of this."

"I want my freedom back…" Tidus responded, closing his eyes, to stop the tears. Riku cupped his hands over the younger boy's face and brought his forehead to his.

"I know. If Jecht decides this for you, what'll stop him from taking complete control of your life? I promise, I'll get you out of it. The next thing I think of  will be foolproof."

He kissed Tidus' forehead. He didn't know why he did or what came over him. But Tidus didn't mind. A small blush appeared across both boys' cheeks.

"I care for you a lot, Tidus. I'll go through whatever it takes."

"Th-thank you, Riku." Tidus said gently. Riku got up and headed for the hallway.

"You can sleep in my bed, tonight. I'll take the couch." But when he looked back, Tidus was already fast asleep. Riku smiled at how Tidus looked so innocent in his sleep.

He turned off the lights and left the room.

----------------------------------------------------

Whew! That was longer than expected! I had better get reviews for this chapter since I worked so hard on it. I'd like some feedback and I appreciate those that have given feedback. I hope nobody minds my throwing in Lulu from FFX in there. She's my favorite FF girl. ^_^ She should've been in Kingdom Hearts! Plus I'm a sucker for the WakkaxLulu pairing ::squeals in delight of what's happening in FFX-2::  As for the "her boobs look like Jell-O" comment: that's something one of my friends came up with. How they sway when she does the final strike in a battle and the victory fanfare comes up and focuses on her, it looks kinda like Jell-O she says. She's a weird one. And yeah, things seem to be going in a shounen-ai direction now and I apologize for alienating readers who just don't like that stuff. You may take your hits if you want to. :-(  

But for the rest of you, stay tuned. Things should prove quite interesting. ^_~

Reviews/Constructive Criticism would be appreciated. Flame, if you think I could actually care. Until Chapter 4!


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them. Special thanks goes out to:

Alba Aulbath

Alana

Shadow

Raiegki Reiko Leviathan (who helps me feel normal. Sora/Donald? Never thought of it! ^_~)

InSaNe KeYbLaDeR (proper inflection ^_^)

Ms. Halley Bomb-bally

Kurai Chan

And the rest of my wonderful reviewers. Anyway, more shounen-ai goodness coming up so stay tuned (Kind of glad I went in this direction for the story. It's pretty fun!)

Beginning Notes: KairixSelphie, yeah it's pretty unlikely, but I thought it was cute enough to stick in. That's the only time it'll show up, though, unless people want to see more. And the identity of Jecht's friend is not Braska. I thought about it, but decided not to. I learned in English class that if a character isn't important, you don't usually name them. Jecht's friend and his daughter's purpose is already being fulfilled, without them actually showing up so they remain anonymous. Besides you really wouldn't want me to break up TidusxYuna, do ya? That's the best romance a Final Fantasy game has had since the Cloud/Aerith/Tifa love triangle of FFVII. Locke/Celes of FFVI was good, Squall/Rinoa of FFVIII was lame and Zidane/Garnet of FFIX was merely okay. Just thought you'd like to know.

Disclaimer: One of these days, I'm gonna keep a count of how many times they say "Heart" "Darkness" and "Light" in Kingdom Hearts. :P Oh yeah, and I don't own it. Square and Disney do.

Tidus' eyes were greeted by sunlight cascading through the window. They slowly opened up revealing a pair of groggy, blue eyes. He got up and took a look at his surroundings. This wasn't his room. This wasn't even his house. Plus he had the worst headache ever.

He groaned as he put a hand to his forehead. Was he okay? He could barely remember what happened last night.

He walked out of the room and into the hallway. This wasn't his hallway. Now he was even more confused.

He heard sounds coming from another room and decided to follow them. They led to another room, apparently the kitchen. He saw Riku, sitting at the table, eating his breakfast and reading a book.

Now he got it. He was in Riku's house. He forgot how he ended up here, but it didn't really matter.

Riku looked up from his book and saw him. He flashed a smile.

"Good morning, sleepy-head!" Riku greeted him. "You feeling okay now?"

Tidus rubbed his brow, groaning again.

"Not really. My headache is killing me."

"It's a hangover. It'll go away." Riku informed. He took a sip from his glass of orange juice. 

"Um, how did I get here and how did I wind up in your bed?" Tidus asked, taking a seat from across Riku.

"You don't remember? Well that's not a surprise. You were pretty smashed."

Tidus blushed. "Yeah, well, I kind of remember speaking to you in…some place…it kind of gets blurry after that."

Riku smirked. "Don't worry. You didn't do anything too stupid."

"That's good to know." Tidus said. He wanted to ask more questions on what went on last night, but he realized if anything important happened, Riku would let him know. But what if it was utterly embarrassing? Riku probably thought it'd be best if he didn't know. What if he told him something he wasn't quite sure of himself yet? 

"Relax," Riku reassured as if reading his thoughts. "You didn't do anything. We didn't do anything. You just came across me and Sora, told us your dad kicked you out and I offered to take you in for the night."

It was more or less the truth.

Tidus breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, it wasn't long before the plaguing question came back to haunt him. What to do now?

Riku set a plate in front of him. On it rested a delicious-looking omelet.

"Made it for you." Riku said warmly. Tidus looked up at him, then back at the plate.

"Th-thank you. But you didn't have to." Tidus said in a soft voice. "I can leave as soon as possible."

Riku placed a hand on Tidus' shoulder and looked at him. "That's unnecessary. All my friends are welcome to stay in my house as long as they need to. Especially you." He went back to pick up his own finished plate and put in the sink.

Tidus looked at the omelet, a small smile crept across his face. He didn't know Riku could cook. And it looked very good, too.

"You can dig in anytime now." Riku joked. Tidus blushed from embarrassment. He must've been staring at it for a long time. Riku folded his arms.

"Hey, I'm a pretty good cook. It's not going to kill you, if that's what your worried about."

Tidus shook his head.

"No it's not that. I didn't brush my teeth yet. I can't eat without doing that." he smiled shyly. Riku went up to him and ruffled his hair.

"Yeah, you probably have horrible morning breath. There's a few extra, unused toothbrushes in the medicine cabinet in the hallway bathroom. You can use one of those." Tidus thanked him, got up, and left. Riku took this time to think about the current situation. He wasn't ready to let Tidus go home, but he knew he couldn't keep him here forever. Hearing that Jecht sometimes threw Tidus out of the house making him spend the night in a cold, damp cave greatly disturbed him. The makeshift leaf bed was what Tidus must've slept on during those nights.

_Damn it_, he thought, _why does he have to live like that?_ Now he started to wonder if Jecht beat him. No, he couldn't. The only bruises he saw on Tidus were ones he inflicted when their duels got serious. No, the kind of abuse Jecht gave Tidus were of the verbal kind.

Riku sat down at the table to think. He knew Tidus was constantly trying to prove himself. Striving to be the best in everything from fighting to blitzball. Could it be the result of his father constantly putting him down?

Tidus walked back into the room and sat down in his chair. They didn't say a word as Tidus picked up his knife and fork and began eating.

Riku studied the younger boy's face. It looked so sad. Forlorn. The voice he spoke in was soft and quiet. Not like the usual Tidus at all.

He needed help. Riku wanted to consult Sora, Kairi, Selphie or Wakka, but wasn't sure if they could help. Sora, Kairi and Selphie didn't know Tidus like Riku knew him. Wakka probably knew him better than Riku, though. He kind of grumbled at that thought and didn't know why.

"It's good."

"Huh?" Riku snapped out of his thoughts.

"The omelet. It's very good." Tidus complemented. He still wasn't looking up at him. And he was still speaking in a soft tone.

"Oh," Riku said, "Thanks. My parents go out a lot so I end up having to make my own dinner sometimes."

"Jecht goes out a lot, too." Tidus said darkly. Riku didn't know how to respond to that or what Tidus was hinting at. Should he ask?

"What do you mean by that?" he asked. Tidus shook his head.

"Nevermind. It means nothing." Tidus answered.

Riku wasn't fooled, but decided Tidus would tell when the time was right. Riku reached out and touched his hand, to comfort him. As soon as they contacted, Tidus looked alarmed. His cheeks turned rosy as he pulled his hand away. Riku was surprised and tried to figure out what it meant. Tidus looked away and continued eating.

Riku wondered what to do next. He realized that desperate measures needed to be taken. Okay, so Jecht's friend was hard to reach. But in order for arranged marriages to work, both parents needed to agree. Jecht's friend wasn't biting so perhaps it was time to concentrate on Jecht himself. Jecht could call it off. But what chance did they have of that?

A snowball's chance in hell, Riku thought.

But it was worth a try.

Riku tapped his fingers on the table trying to come up with a good idea. 

Meanwhile, Tidus had finished eating and was now just staring at his plate. He saw Riku noticing the sad look on his face. So the silver-haired boy tried to touch him, offer a comforting hand, but the sandy blonde refused. Not because he didn't want it. He really wanted it. But he wanted Riku to do more than just hold his hand. He wanted Riku to hold _him_. To put his arms around him, to stroke his hair, to whisper in his ear that everything will be all right.

"Oh gods, why am I thinking like this?" he thought aloud, which proved to be an obvious mistake.

Riku tilted his head and looked at him. _What's going on in that kid's head?_

Tidus looked at him and then looked away, blushing again. A mixture of embarrassment and now, he finally admitted, infatuation.

"Hey, Tidus, I think I might have something." Riku said. Reluctantly, Tidus looked at him. He didn't make eye contact.

"What?" he asked. 

"I was thinking that maybe we could get Jecht to call it off instead of his friend." Riku explained. Tidus shook his head.

"Wouldn't work. There's nothing that would make him drag me out of it." Tidus stated. Riku thought for a moment.

"What if you did something that would make him want to call it off?"

Tidus tilted his head. "And that would be?"

"Well let's think for a minute. What would he hate for you to do or be the most?" Riku asked.

"A weakling, loser, something of the like." Tidus answered. Riku shook his head.

"No, something that couldn't easily be fixed. Something that would be devastating to a man like him."

Tidus tried his best to think of something, even though he wasn't really sure what Riku was trying to get at. Instead his thoughts drifted back to the older boy. He just couldn't stop thinking about how he wished Riku would…Riku would…

"I think I came up with something." Tidus said. "One thing Jecht would hate for me to be is gay. He's a homophobe."

Riku nodded. "Tidus, my man, that could be your ticket out this marriage."

"What?! You want me to tell my old man I'm gay?!" Tidus asked incredulously. "I want out of this marriage, not out of life!"

"Calm down," Riku said, holding his hands up defensively. "I think it could work."

"Yeah, it would definitely stop me from being in that marriage, but my old man would kill me. He'd kill me!"

"Well it's not like you're actually gay." Riku said. Tidus bit his lip. Riku meant it in a positive way, but…if only he knew.

"Besides," said Riku, smirking, "He probably won't kill you, if _he's_ responsible."

Tidus blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Hey, he's always yelling at you and insulting you. So you distanced yourself from him. Because of your poor relationship with him he never taught you how to become a 'real man.' So you spent more time with your mother who helped get you into some feminine things. And one of those feminine things happened to be developing feelings for boys. Sounds like a believable story, huh?" Riku smiled satisfyingly.

"Hits a little too close to home to be a story," muttered Tidus. "And I'm _not_ feminine."

"I know. Anyway, he feels guilty, asks what he could do, and you tell him to end the marriage arrangement now. Then you can become straight again." Riku chuckled at his idea. Tidus, however, wasn't too sure. But he was willing to try anything at this point.

"Sounds like a plan," he said forcing a smile. "I guess I should go tell him I'm 'like that,' huh?"

But Riku shook his head. Tidus looked surprised. "Now what?"

"Jecht would know you would never confess that to him. He'd get suspicious."

Tidus hadn't thought of that.

"So," Riku continued, "It order to be convincing, he's going to have to catch you."

"Catch me be gay? And how is he gonna do that?" Tidus asked, skeptical.

"Simple. He's going to have to catch you kiss a guy."

"WHAT?!"

"It's effective and realistic." Riku justified, holding his hands up in defense again. He couldn't help but smile at his reaction. Tidus looked down and pouted.

"Are you sure there isn't another way?" 

"There could be. But I'm sure this could work. Positive." Riku, said sounding hopeful.

"But which guy would I kiss? Who would want to?" Tidus inquired. Riku shrugged.

"You have your choice. Wakka, Sora, or me. I'm sure the other guys…"

"You." Tidus blurted out without thought. Realizing his mistake, he quickly added, "Since you thought of the idea, you might as well suffer through it, too."

Riku gulped, but kept his cool. "Fair enough. I wouldn't mind."

Tidus knew Riku meant he'd do it because he was Tidus' friend and wanted to help that. But he couldn't help, but wonder if Riku…if….

_No. Stop thinking like that._

"So, um, now what? When do we do this?" Tidus asked, timidly.

"Now is as good as time as any. Unless you want to wait."

Tidus shook his head. "Let's get it over with."

He tried to sound like he wasn't looking forward to it. Like he was disgusted at the idea and only wanted to do it was to get out of his situation. And part of him really felt that way. But the other half _was_ looking forward to it. It made him feel kind of excited. Riku was actually going to let him kiss him. And he might actually enjoy it. But why?

"I can't believe I'm thinking like this." Tidus moaned. Riku heard, but decided not to say anything, even though he really wanted to know what was going on in the younger boy's head.

I suck at cliffhangers, but I decided to end it here. Probably not a good idea since not much happened. It sucks doesn't it? ;_; 

I already know what's coming up next, but I wanted to get it up sooner for you guys. Since I'm ready for the next part, it probably won't take long to update anyway. Don't forget to review! And be sure to tell me if anything's wrong so I can correct it. And feel free to bounce ideas off of me since I'm still open to them.

Until Chapter 5.


	5. Chapter 5

Here is Chapter 5. Once again, thanks to my reviewers. You're all wonderful. If I could kiss you all, I would. ^_^ This will be fun chapter. Nothing but beautiful, beautiful Shonen-Ai fluff! But bad things will also happen. And I use some slurs and ugly names for homosexuals in this one so please don't be offended if you're homosexual. I have nothing against them and it's only used for dramatic effect. 

[I use Microsoft Word for my stories and for some reason italics don't always go all the way through when I upload it so if anything seems weird, like a character is supposed to be thinking it instead of the narrator, chances are it was supposed to be in italics. Or maybe it's just bad writing. ;_;

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom…ah, feh you should know by now.

Tidus was lying down on the beach, listening to the sound of the waves climbing over each other, the tide moving in and out across the sand. Riku had gone off, saying he had to take care of another part of the plan to "make sure it would work." So he told him to wait here and not to worry.

Tidus hated this contradictory feeling he was having. He wanted it, but he didn't want it. The "it" being the object of his desire.

He brought a hand up to his forehead. Did he really think of Riku like that? Yesterday, it pounced on him, totally unexpected. Now what was he supposed to do? Tell him? How would he react? How would everyone react? Most importantly, how would his father react?

Guess he'll find out today.

He sat up and brushed the sand out of his hair. He looked out into the ocean; it's gentle breeze brushing across his face. It looked so peaceful out there. So calm. The sound of seagulls flying overhead added to the scenery. The atmosphere felt so serene.

Why? Why must the picture feel so pretty when he was feeling inner turmoil? He hated it. He hated this. He prayed for the situation to end and fast.

He waded out into the water until it reached up to his waist. He didn't know why exactly. Maybe he wanted to just feel the serenity of the ocean, he figured. All the other people were bored of the island life. Tidus felt he was the only person who still appreciated it.

And that was when, despite his turmoil, he decided he was still enjoying it.

"Tidus!" called Riku from the shore. Tidus looked back and saw the older teen wading through the water until he was right next to him. "Are you ready?"

The younger teen gulped. "You mean now?" His cheeks flushed.

"Not right now. We have to wait for Kairi's signal." Riku said. Tidus raised an eyebrow.

"Kairi?  She's involved?"

Riku nodded. "I figured Jecht probably wouldn't believe it, so I needed someone who was convincing. Kairi used to be a bit of a tattletale, so if he were to believe anyone it'd be her."

"Oh," Tidus said, "So what is she going to do?"

---------------

Kairi walked to Tidus' house, thinking about the favor Riku had asked of her. He told her that he and Tidus needed her help. She was to go to Tidus' house and get Jecht. She had to tell him that she caught the two boys doing something very shocking. And that Jecht had to follow her so she can point them out to him. When she reached the play island, make sure she's the first on the pier before Jecht. Then give Riku a signal and the rest will be taken from there.

She asked him what he was planning to do with Tidus. Riku had thought for minute, like he wasn't sure if he should tell her or not. He then grinned sheepishly and said he was going to kiss him. Kairi had burst out in laughter, yelling "you're kidding!" Riku's face turned beat red and said that it wasn't what she thought. This was a way to help Tidus get out of an arranged marriage. Kairi couldn't believe it, but agreed to help them.

_Don't tell anyone, okay?_ He had said to her. Kairi nodded and proceeded to walking to Tidus' house, which was where she was at now.

A mischievous smile crept across her face. This was going to be fun.

She rang the doorbell and waited a few moments. The door opened, a tall rugged man standing in the foyer.

"Hello, Mr. Jecht. How nice it is to see you on this lovely day." Kairi said politely.

"Hey, Kairi. If you're looking for Tidus, he ain't here." Jecht said in equal politeness. He was always fond of Kairi. Most adults were. Kairi put on a sad and troubled face.

"As a matter of fact, I know that. That's why I'm here." 

Jecht raised an eyebrow. "Is there…something wrong?"

Kairi looked around as if ready to tell a secret. Jecht was getting a bit worried. Kairi grinned inwardly. _Man, I'm good at this,_ she thought, followed by a small laugh in her head.

She took a deep breath. "I caught Tidus and Riku doing something gross."

"Gross, huh?" Jecht said getting suspicious, "What are you talking about?"

Kairi sighed and looked toward the ground. "It's better to show you," she said.

"Then take me to 'em."

----------------

Tidus pointed at the pier. "That's where they'll be?"

Riku nodded. "And I think that's pretty much it. Now we wait."

Tidus looked at the water surrounding them. "Should we go by the shore?"

"Nah, here's fine." Riku winked at him. "Besides, being wet makes it sexier."

Tidus flushed. "What the…?!"

"I'm just joking." Riku said, giggling. Tidus pouted. A few more moments passed and Kairi still wasn't there yet. Tidus was getting more nervous by the minute. He was afraid of what would happen next. Not of his father, but kissing Riku might actually confirm his feelings. As long as he forced himself not to enjoy it, he won't. He decided to try that.

"Riku, um," he started, "when you kiss me, don't use any tongue okay."

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Riku. "But it would be to our benefit to make this as believable as possible."

"Jecht might not care, though. Two boys kissing each other on the cheek is enough of a cause to kill them is what he says." Tidus informed. Riku looked at the pier, not responding to what Tidus said. It confused the blonde. Tidus wasn't good at reading people, but he wanted to know what Riku was thinking about.

"Jecht…don't let him discourage you, anymore."

"Huh?"

"After this…don't let him get to you. He does and says a lot of wrong stuff. Do what you wanna do and be what you wanna be. Don't let him lead your life for you. Just do what you think you should do. Okay?" he looked at the younger boy. "Okay?"

Tidus looked up at him, eyes meeting. Why did Riku say this all of a sudden? Was it something he said?

Tidus nodded. "Sure thing, Riku. Though I am way ahead of you on that."

Riku smiled. "Just reinforcing it." He glanced at the pier. Finally, Kairi had made her way. Jecht shouldn't be far behind.

She waved at them and gave them a thumbs-up. The signal.

"It's showtime." Riku said. Tidus gulped. Riku put his hands on the blonde's shoulders and looked into his eyes. Tidus' heart was pounding, nervousness encompassing him completely.

Riku's left hand moved from Tidus' right shoulder to Tidus' cheek, caressing it slowly and methodically. It was…relaxing.

Riku's face leaned in closer. Tidus braced himself for what was to happen next. He closed his eyes and felt Riku's lips brush against his. A simple, chaste kiss.

It was better than he thought. The feeling was overwhelming, exhilarating, enthralling! How did…how did Riku feel about all this? Tidus wondered.

Tidus put his arms around Riku's waist and pulled him in closer. Riku's hand left Tidus' cheek and landed on his neck, caressing it gingerly. Tidus, eyes still closed, parted his lips slightly. Even though he said he wouldn't, Riku took it as an invitation to slide his tongue into Tidus' mouth. Their tongues fenced with each other in total bliss. Tidus' response was of a warm nature. He didn't want it to end. He enjoyed this feeling to no end and he couldn't help but wonder if Riku was enjoying it, too. If he wasn't, then he was a damn good actor.

But Riku wasn't acting. He was completely lost in this new feeling. His hands trailed up and down Tidus' arms. He felt the blonde's most affectionate responses, wondering if he was just acting or actually feeling all this. And if it were for real, would he care?

Tidus was lost in the gentle touches of his silver-haired angel. Yes, it was true. To deny it any longer was pointless. He was in love with Riku.

After what seemed like an eternity, Riku pulled away, mesmerized at how long they lasted. Tidus, too, was awestruck and tried his best to hide the insane blush that was filling his cheeks. Riku noticed and smirked.

"How cute," he said. Tidus looked at him, not knowing what to say.

"TI-DUS!!!!" yelled an angry voice. Both boys' head whipped around to the pier and saw an angry Jecht. And he was _very_ angry. The angriest Tidus had ever saw him. More veins were popping out of his head then last night when he found Tidus drinking his beer. His face was in a twisted scowl. Yeah, he was ready to kill.

The funny thing was Riku and Tidus had actually forgotten the reason _why_ they had kissed.

Riku's eyes trailed off the angry Jecht and found a giggling Kairi…

…and a giggling Selphie…

…and a laughing Sora…

…and a guffawing Wakka…

Now Riku was feeling seven kinds of anger. At least it was to his benefit since now he didn't have to "act" like he was angry with Kairi.

"Kairi! I told you not to tell anyone!!!" he yelled. The other four kids were non-existent to Jecht. Right now, his eyes were only on his son and the boy kissing his son. The _boy_.

He jumped off the pier and ran straight towards. Tidus braced himself and prayed Jecht would at least demand an explanation before attacking.

Jecht splashed through the water and came up to the boys, teeth baring the intensity of ire.

He seized Tidus' hair, pulling it, making Tidus flinch in pain. But he did not cry.

"What the hell do you think you're doin'?" Jecht demanded. "Why the hell are you makin' out with this…this faggot?! Why the hell are _you_ a faggot?"

"Hey watch it!" Riku said, but Jecht shoved him into the water.

"You've done enough for this boy, fruitcake! I'm kind of disappointed in you. You of all people, Riku." Jecht said. Then he turned his vicious glare back to Tidus and tightened his grip on the blonde's hair. "But I'm especially disappointed in you! Do you know what this says about you? About me?! What will people think about when they talk about the son of Jecht?! I ain't raison no faggot, boy!"

"You want to know what it says about you? As far as I'm concerned it says you're a pretty crappy father!" Tidus said definatly. Jecht let go of his son's hair and crossed his arms.

"You tryin' to pin this on me, boy?" Jecht growled.

"When you kicked me out last night, I had nowhere to go. I found Riku and he offered to take me inside. That's when I told him everything. I told him about this stupid marriage and every other thing you did that completely crushed me before. After I broke down, he offered his arms to me and I took them. That's when I…that's when we realized we had something for each other. And I took it because it felt so nice to be loved after all the horrible crap you put me through. You never loved me Jecht, but Riku does. And you know what? I love him, too." Tidus said. He made it all up, off the top of his head, except for that last part. He actually did love Riku. But nobody knew that.

Jecht's jaw dropped about twenty feet. He didn't know how to react to what his son just said. He quickly regained his composure and sputtered out, "Y-you l-love him?!"

Tidus nodded. Riku, who had gotten up, was glancing back and forth between Jecht and Tidus. Kairi, Sora, Selphie, and Wakka were now off the pier and on the shore, watching what was going on, none of them muttering a word.

"B-but son," Jecht continued, "I do love you."

Tidus' eyes widened. When was the last time he heard those words come out of his father's mouth? Never!

"I do love you, son! That was just my way of showing it." Jecht explained. "I wanted you to become the biggest hardass this side of the world. I thought by actin' this way, it would toughen you up. Make you a force to be reckoned with." Jecht sighed. "But I guess you take after your mother too much. You ended up getting scared and running away. Guess now you're going to be running to your new fruitcake boyfriend. This is going to make the arranged marriage very difficult."

"Yeah, well, if you had never gotten me into it, this would never have happened," Tidus smirked. "Maybe I should thank you for that. It helped me find my one and only."

Tidus put his arm around Riku and kissed him on the cheek. Jecht glared at both of them. Riku waved his hand at him, smiling and chuckling nervously.

"Take your arm off him or I will rip it off." Jecht growled. 

Tidus shook his head. Riku whispered in his ear "Just do it. We don't want to get in _too_ deep."

Tidus reluctantly took his arm off. It felt nice.

"Okay, so being in the marriage got you into this. Am I correct in assuming, that if I got you out of the marriage, you'll get out of this?" Jecht asked him. Tidus held a finger up to his chin, pretending to think.

"It'd be a start." he confirmed.

"Done." Jecht said. Tidus smiled. It worked. The plan worked. He was out of the arranged marriage and his path was his own to choose once again.

Jecht grabbed his hand. "You should probably stay inside for the rest of the day. Contact with guys is bad for you at the moment." Jecht lead Tidus out of the waters and to the pier to take his boat home. Tidus looked back at Riku and gave him a wink. "Thank you" he mouthed. Riku returned a thumbs-up and mouthed "Anything for you."

He walked out of the water and onto the shore. His four other friends each greeted him wearing a smile or a smirk and ready to collapse in a fit of laughter. And they did.

Riku's anger resurfaced and glared at Kairi.

The auburn-haired girl shrugged. "Sorry," she said through giggles. "I came across them when I was bringing Jecht here and they wanted to know what was going on. I couldn't tell them I was helping you fool Jecht so I told them to just come along." She continued giggling.

"Aw, you two were so cute!" Selphie squealed between her giggles. "You guys looked so into it."

"Tidus was a good kisser, ya?" Wakka chortled. "Am I invited to the wedding?"

"You think you know a guy," Sora snickered, elbowing Wakka. "Then they go and do something like this."

Riku's glare multiplied by twenty. He jabbed a finger at each and every one of them and growled slowly.

"I…will kill…each…and every…one of you."

The laughing stopped and gulps were heard. In the midst of their levity they forgot one thing: don't mess with an angry Riku.

"Run." he commanded in a low voice. The other four darted off, running for their lives, with Riku chased them arms outstretched. Oh what terrible fate awaited the person who was caught by those hands.

---------------

It had been a few days since Riku kissed Tidus. He hadn't seen him since then. He really wanted to know how things were going, but when he called his house, Jecht would always answer and hang up.

After he was done chasing his other friends that day and giving them a good beat down, he explained to them what had been going on. Now everyone understood and talks about Riku and Tidus stopped.

Sora and Wakka hadn't seen Tidus since, either. Jecht would always turn them away. Riku guessed he was serious when he told Tidus he couldn't have any contact with guys for a while. How paranoid.

Girls were completely fine, though. However, Riku was still a bit sensitive about asking Kairi for help again so he asked Selphie to visit Tidus for him earlier today.

He laughed at the memory of Selphie walking towards him when he and Sora were sparring. Her face was red with anger or embarrassment or something. It was just really red!

_"What's wrong, Selphie?" he asked._

_"I went to see Tidus and was greeted by Jecht." She huffed._

_"And?" pressed Sora. Selphie looked to the side._

_"He asked if I could come back later and slip into something a little more revealing!"_

Riku chuckled when he remembered how he and Sora burst out laughing. Paranoid Jecht.

"What's so funny?" asked Sora. He was lying down on the paopu tree. Riku was leaning against it and Kairi was sitting between them. It was evening and the sun was setting.

"Just remembering Selphie earlier today." He answered. Sora chuckled.

"Oh yeah. That."

"What?" asked Kairi. "Tell me. I wanna know."

"Well…" Sora began to explain, but he was interrupted by a distant cry.

"Riku!"

The silver-haired boy looked up and saw Tidus waving at him, inviting him to come over. Riku smiled. He turned to his two friends and said, "Finally. Better go see what he wants."

"Fine. Go to your boyfriend." Sora said, teasingly. Kairi stifled a laugh, but not by much.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Sora, don't be so immature." He ran across the bridge and jumped off and into the sandy ground. He walked up to Tidus casually and waved.

"What's up?"

Tidus smiled. "Nothing. Just wanted to see you. It's been awhile."

"Oh, it's only been a day or two. No need to get sentimental." Riku said, playfully. 

Tidus nodded. "Heh, sorry. But Jecht's kept me under lock and key. He's been doing nothing but making me watch movies with scantily clad women."

"Oh such horrible torture." Riku said being playfully sarcastic. Tidus cracked a smile.

"The only reason I'm out here is because Jecht is out drinking with his friends and my mom is visiting a sick friend."

"Well it is nice to know you're still alive." Riku said. "But I'm sure things will go back to normal soon. Good luck."

Riku turned away to walk back to his friends, but Tidus grabbed his shoulder.

"Riku, wait."

Riku turned around to face the younger boy. Tidus was biting his lip, like he had something to get off his chest.

"That kiss you gave me…" he began. Riku raised an eyebrow in concern. He knew Tidus would want to talk about this. He even had an idea of what he was about to say.

"That kiss…it was the first one I've ever had." Tidus admitted.

"Oh." Riku said quietly. Tidus closed his eyes.

"I-I had liked it. It was very…good." He confessed. The blonde hung his head, afraid what Riku might say.

A million thoughts raced through Riku's head. He liked it? He _liked_ it? He was afraid of that. The kiss he gave them was very heavy. But it was all for show, right? That's why he went as far as he did…right?

No. Riku had to admit, it was enjoyable. He placed a comforting hand on Tidus' shoulder. The boy looked up at the older boy, wondering what he was going to say.

"If you enjoyed my kiss so much, wait until you kiss a girl." He said in his most lighthearted tone. "Is that it?"

Tidus looked at him, stunned. He was okay with it. But the feelings…he didn't return them. He felt…dejected.

He mustered up a fake smile. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."

"No problem." Riku said. He turned around and walked back to Sora and Kairi. And this time Tidus didn't stop him. 

Tidus reached out his hand as if to grab him, but didn't. Slowly, he pulled it back and said in a small, whisper, "I love you."

Riku walked very slowly back to the paopu tree mini-island. A small tear slid down his face. _I don't know what I'm feeling, but you can't know. I don't want things becoming difficult for you again._

Tidus walked away, unsure of what to do now. He visited the Secret Place and looked at all the drawings he, Selphie, Wakka, Sora, Riku, and Kairi did when they were little. He went into a small corner. A blank area, none of them had visited yet, because nobody knew it was there. Completely obscured by rocks and fungi. He picked up some of the leftover chalk and began to draw. He drew two boys, holding each other in a loving embrace. Tears welled up in his eyes. Under it he wrote: _Tidus loves Riku. And he'll never let him go._

~*Owari*~

Aw, how sad. I probably shouldn't have ended it there, but it seemed more realistic. The main plotline (getting Tidus out of the arranged marriage) was over so it seemed right to end it. This was never intended to be a long story anyways. And I really grew to like the TidusxRiku pairing even if it just started out as an experiment. Think I'm starting to like it as much as SoraxRiku. I think I might do a sequel to continue this storyline since the arranged marriage part is over, and TidusxRiku kawaiiness has just begun! Would people be interested in full-on TidusxRiku? Cuz I think I might do that. Make it sort of a part 2 to this "saga." And I apologize for making Jecht a really big meanie. I'm not going to lie, he was the hardest character to write.  Tidus is so adorable in KH. I like him so much!^^* Okay, I'm rambling now, so please review and have a wonderful day/night!

Remember: If you read this story and don't review, that makes you a thief. :P


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